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CM . . .
. Volume XVII Number 26. . . .March 11, 2011
Although the title of this teaching manual might be viewed as inappropriate in this age of terrorism, it should not be held against the valuable, practical information this text has to offer on writing skills. Along with a supportive foreword by David Booth that outlines both who will benefit from the material and what skills will be practiced, Green provides a preface to convince the reader that she has the professional background and credentials to warrant Booth's support of her text. How Bullets Saved My Life is for anyone engaged in the practice of teaching English Language Arts reading and writing skills to elementary school students, and both Booth and Green are accurate in their description of this manual's value.
From the very beginning, Green establishes her use of the 'bullet' to make concise lists of valuable information, and, as she puts it, "I was having trouble moving ahead and including everything I wanted. Then I decided to use bullets to add material without burdening the reader. Bullets keep people reading" (p. 11). She is right. The book is organized with the use of bulleted points throughout the chapters. Each chapter focuses on specific skill areas that work together to support students learning reading and writing skills, such as, Chapter 1: Getting Ideas, Chapter 2: Organization, Chapter 3: Voice, Chapter 4: Word Choice, Chapter 5: Fluency, Chapter 6: Conventions, and Chapter 7: Visual Presentation. Along with these seven chapters, Green includes an Introduction with the sections: Let Authors Help You Teach Writing, Have the Right Stuff, and Writing Traits, along with a Conclusion, Acknowledgments, References and Resources for Further Reading and an Index. This additional information is an asset to organizing the provided exercises and to supplementing other quality materials along with it.
Highly Recommended Jocelyn A. Dimm is a sessional instructor and doctoral student at the University of Victoria where she teaches drama education and young adult literature in the Faculty of Education.
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